The Amazing Super Awesome Warriors of Light
by Freida Right
Summary: /Post-Prodigal/ 0 and 20 at play, just as I promised. A short series of their epic, amazing, noble adventures around the library and the burrow, and everywhere else in between.
1. Sorcerer and Princess

Just 0 and 20, acting like the five-year-olds they are. Because my fans are owed a look at what they do in their free time together. ;)

2222222222

_The Amazing Super Awesome Warriors of Light_

2222222222

…..

The mighty Sorcerer stalked warily through the wasteland on his epic, noble quest. To his left, the fair-haired warrior Princess who was his companion stepped in time, scanning the immediate area for danger.

"What do you see, Pricness?" Sorcerer asked, impatient to hit something with his amazing Staff of Invincibility.

Princess shrugged. "Nothing much," she answered, "just piles of rubbish, and no monsters. It's pretty boring. How much longer until we find the treasure?"

"Soon, I think," Sorcerer said slowly, looking around slowly, carefully, with a trained, critical eye. Princess' father, King of the North, had entrusted them with this noble quest. He required this elusive treasure to keep his people safe, you see. But it was much too harrowing for a single sorcerer to go alone, with no protection—because everyone knows that sorcerers are great with magic, but not so great at defending themselves with weapons. So he had wisely asked Princess to accompany him; she was good at hitting and kicking things, and she had an enchanted sword.

Finally, after looking around hard for a moment, Sorcerer spotted it—sticking lopsided out of one of the piles of rubbish, hidden in plain sight, was the treasure: the tarnished but still-gleaming Chalice of Purity. Sorcerer gasped in surprise and delight to have found the sacred treasure so quickly, and ran up to examine it. Princess followed him, and watched in wonder as he pulled it out of the debris.

"Is it truly…?" she asked in wonder.

"Oh, yes," Sorcerer agreed, turning the chalice over in his hands. "This is the treasure that will keep your kingdom safe."

"Daddy will be so pleased!" she cheered, clapping her hands. "That was pretty easy. We should head home and let everyone know right away."

"Hold on, Princess. You're right. That _was_ easy… _Too_ easy…"

The held very still and listened carefully as rocks tumbled over each other nearby. Something was moving. Moving toward them. Fast…

And out of nowhere—BAM! There it was! A huge antlion jumped out from behind a rock, its pincers snapping hungrily. Princess cried out in alarm, and drew her enchanted sword. Sorcerer moved back, ready to cast his spells from a safer distance.

"It must have been guarding the treasure!" Princess realized.

"And now it's going to try and take it back!" Sorcerer concluded, excited. Finally, some action on what had been one _boring_ noble quest.

"It can only try, for we shall vanquish it and save my kingdom from this monster!" Princess cheered valiantly, charging at the antlion with her sword drawn.

"Have at you!" Sorcerer added, cheering her on, and began to chant a spell. "I shall cast the spell Flame upon you!"

…..

2222222222

It had been about half an hour since 13 had sent 0 and 20 out on a fairly simple errand; but the two cousins hadn't returned yet. Now he and 9 stood in silence at the entrance to the burrow, waiting for their children to come back. 13 sighed, slightly annoyed.

"Frankly, I needed that screw yesterday," he commented, noting the position of the sun. "It was nice of them to offer to help, but…"

"Their minds are only five years old; they get distracted easily," 9 finished with a shrug, somewhat used to his son's antics. The children were probably off playing warriors again, their original mission completely abandoned.

"Perhaps we should just go find the thing ourselves, then," 13 suggested. "I'd like to have that beam fixed by tomorrow, so we can finish expanding that tunnel before the ground freezes up."

9 was about to agree to that, but a childish battle cry echoed from somewhere nearby and interrupted his line of thought. A fake, girlish scream followed it—the kind that was only for show and didn't mean any real trouble.

"I suppose we should go and see what they're doing," he said instead, and started off toward the noise. 13 followed him quickly through the yard that stretched over their burrow—much of the complex was directly beneath their feet, and 9 could guess easily at what he was walking over.

_7's sharpening her spear in the den; 14's sweeping the hallway; 12 is tangled in copper wires in his bedroom-_again_…_

Finding the small-ish 'punks wasn't difficult, with all the noise they were making:

"_Paystah!_ Oh no! I missed!"

"That's 'cause you're a sorcerer, Sorcerer! Leave punching things to me! Oh! I missed him, too! He's a fast one, he is!"

"Try harder, Princess! You almost have him! I cast Flame! Darn, I missed again! What are we to do, Princess?"

9 and 13 found them in time for the climax of their terrific battle, taking place before an impressive pile of debris. 0 was wearing his sorcerer's costume: a scrappy, well-worn blue cape and a wing nut helmet, and a long, slightly curved stick in one hand—whenever he did, it meant was no longer 0, but the amazing Sorcerer of Light. They also noted that he held a small screw in his other hand.

Standing on the pile was 20, smacking a long, straight stick of her own against the ground, trying in vain to hit a little black ant as it scurried to and fro. Stray strands of her yellow hair kept falling in her face, and the rhinestone-on-plastic ring she wore as a tiara was falling to one side, but it didn't stop her.

"Use the Chalice of Purity! No evil monster can stand against its goodness!" she suggested.

"Great idea, Princess! Here, take it! Save your land and make your people proud!"

With that, 0 clumsily tossed the screw up to 20, who caught it just as clumsily and dropped her stick in the process. Now, with the ultimate weapon in hand, she raised it up over her head and proclaimed, "And now, monster, for the sake of my people, I shall remove thee from my land!"

Gosh darn it, she was too adorable to be taken seriously. The two fathers couldn't help but laugh, thoroughly amused. The children looked up from their play, realizing they had been caught messing around when they had been given a job to do.

"I'm curious, lovely, how do you plan to use my screw to destroy this ant?" 13 asked with a smile.

With an apologetic, sheepish look, 20 lowered the screw again, not sure what to do anymore. Instead of letting the lighthearted mood slip away completely, he walked up to the pile and scooped her up in one arm, taking the screw from her.

"Thank you both for finding this for me. Now I can do this," he said grandly, pointing the sharp end of it at the ant. "Be gone, beast!"

Seeing that the attacks had stopped, the little ant turned and scurried the heck out of there as fast as his little ant legs could carry him.

13 smiled at his daughter. "I don't think that monster will plague our land anymore, do you?"

20 grinned. "Oh, we should have known! The Chalice of Purity only works in the hands of the true king! And that's you, daddy!"

13 looked down at the screw in his hand and smiled. "Chalice of Purity, huh?"

Oh, who was he to spoil their fn and adventures?

"Thank you—both of you—for finding it for me. You've done me a great service."

"yay!" 20 cheered, clapping her hands.

"We are the most amazing warriors in the whole world, aren't we, pa?" 0 added, to his own father. To this, 9 reached down and patted his head with a laugh.

"Yes, indeed. The world needs more warriors, I suppose, with all the wild ants wandering around, these days."

0 grinned and dashed off, leading the way back to the burrow. 20 wriggled out of her father's arms and raced after her cousin.

"That's right!" she laughed. "We are the Amazing Super Awesome Warriors of Light, 0!"

"Nothing can stand in our way, 20! Nothing, I say!"

As they ran ahead together, their fathers strolled after them at a more leisurely pace, enjoying their children's spirit.

"Well, that's fine with me," 13 commented. "After all, we have Amazing Super Awesome Warriors of Light in our family. Now we are safe from _everything_."


	2. Samurai and the Golden Archer

Today, the spectacular adventures of Samurai and the Golden Archer.

2222222222

…..

There was a dreadful winter storm raging outside, trapping the two fierce warriors inside a glittering palace full of monsters.

Just another day for the great Samurai and his companion, the legendary Golden Archer. Between his magical Katana of Righteousness, and her Golden Arrows of Truth, there was no way they could be defeated. But that didn't make the monsters any less powerful, it seemed.

Once again, Samurai and Archer had been sent on a daring mission by the Emperor, to rid his summer palace of the monsters that had taken it over for the winter. No sooner had they stepped inside had the snowstorm blown in, trapping them indefinitely, probably until their job was done. How fickle the gods could be…

"We're not making much headway," Archer remarked after they had cleared the corridors for the third time. "Every time we go back, it's like new fiends have materialized out of nowhere!"

"Creatures of darkness are always more cunning when there's a samurai around," Samurai explained. "Only the most devious and evil of monsters dare try the patience of warriors like me. You'll find no easy monsters in _my_ company."

"Nor in mine," Archer replied indignantly. "I'm just as great a warrior as you."

"That's true. While I trained at my father's side, in the safety of my home, you were training with great masters on the tops of the highest mountains, until you could catch the swiftest, most elusive prey, as a hawk."

"That's very poetic, Samurai."

"Thank you!"

"Can I call you Sam instead? Samurai is a long name."

Samurai looked at her flatly, unimpressed. "Can I call you Lorraine?"

She gave him a confused look and answered, "That has nothing to do with being the Golden Archer."

"And Sam has nothing to do with being the Samurai!"

Archer pursed her lips, biting her tongue. She knew from past experience that arguing with the dominating warrior was a futile and stupid use of time. Determined to change the pace of the adventure, she pointed nearby.

"Look! Look at that little tribe of creatures! They look like they're made of rocks."

The group of rock-people didn't look very threatening; in fact, they looked rather peaceful and innocent, just a ragged band seeking shelter from the storm outside. The four of them were sort of huddled together in a loose circle, going through a small pile of their mismatched belongings.

"Perhaps, if they can speak, they can help us," Archer suggested. "Maybe they can tell us where we can find more treasure for the Emperor!"

"That is a great idea! Let's try it," Samurai agreed, and they approached one of the small creatures at a run.

…..

222222222

Both sets of twins—3 and 4, and 11 and 12—had been sitting on the floor in the den, teaching themselves to play a human card game called "poker" to pass the time. The first winter storm had blown in overnight, and it didn't show signs of stopping for a day or two.

While the four of them occupied their time quietly, 0 and 20 went rampaging around the burrow on various noisy adventures. 20 had picked up her cousin's habit of making an explosive sound effect every time she took a step. Every now and again, a duet of triumphant, uproarious childish laughter echoed through the complex.

4 and 12 thought it was adorable; they either accepted and ignored it, or did an impressive job of hiding their annoyance. 3 and 11, both preferring a certain order to things, agreed that it was unnecessary. Ignoring their siblings was a little harder for them at first; but after a while, they got used to it and didn't worry about it.

So when the children dashed back into the den and stopped to discuss their imaginary adventure, none of the twins had paid them much attention. 3 was particularly excited about this round, because he was pretty sure he had a good hand.

Then, all of a sudden, something careened into him and knocked him over. Completely dazed, he looked up to see his brother and little cousin looming over him, more like expectant, excited puppies than like the triumphant devil-children they were.

"You, rock-monsters!" 0 announced grandly. "We are great warriors on a noble quest! Will you help us?"

Peripheral gears began clicking together in 3's head. Somewhere in the background, he had heard them mention something about rock-creatures or something. How could he have known that _he_ was the rock monster they had been talking about?

Dumbfounded on several levels, 3 just sat and stared at them, unable to move because he was still dazed. Luckily, his sister had always been much more interested in 0's escapades.

"_Ooh, a noble quest? Tell us more,"_ she requested sweetly.

The children's eyes lit up, thrilled that the rock-monsters had responded, and 20 explained, "we've been sent by the Emperor to make the terrible monsters leave his summer home before summer comes again. No one wants to live in a palace full of monsters!"

"But there are _so_ many monsters in this palace, it make take us until next summer to get rid of them all," 0 continued, exasperated enough to begin pacing and flailing his hands around for emphasis. "And we're _real_ glad to see creatures of goodness in here, instead of just creatures of darkness, so can you rock monsters please help us?"

"And do you know if there's any more treasure hidden in the palace, that we can take back to the Emperor with us?" 20 asked earnestly.

11 and 12 exchanged a knowing look, having a whole conversation with only their facial expressions (as all the Dekas did), and then turned back to their little sister.

"You know, brave warriors," 12 said with a benevolent smile, "a lot of these monsters are just like us, trying to get out of the storm outside."

With an equally benevolent smile, 11 continued, "The only reason why they attack you is because they're scared that you'll throw them back out in the cold and snow, even though there's no one living here."

0 and 20 wilted together, looking a little guilty.

Finding himself able to move and speak again, 3 sat back up and took the handful of pebble-poker chips he had won, and held them out to his brother.

"_Here's some treasure for the Emperor, you guys. I don't know if there's any more lying around, but you can have this. I'm sure he'll appreciate it."_

"_Who __is__ the Emperor today, anyway? Papa, or 13?"_ 4 asked.

"I don't think we ever figured that out…" 0 mumbled.

"However the Emperor is today," 12 continued, "why don't you take your noble quest back to him, and tell him everything you've seen here at the summer palace."

"And don't forget to present him the treasure we've given you," 11 added for him.

0 gave them a stern salute, prompting 20 to do the same. "Thank you for your help, rock monsters. From now on, the Samurai and the Golden Archers will be your great allies in your times of need!"

With a quartet of thank-you's, the two warriors dashed out of the den to find their fathers. The four twins watched them run out, all of them feeling touched. As they turned back to their game however, they were interrupted by soft joyous laughter on the other side of the room.

Oh yeah. They had forgotten that 7 and 14 had been sitting on the sofa the whole time, chatting quietly until the children had run in. And now they were laughing to themselves over what had just happened.

"They're so adorable," 14 mused. "And our older children are so good with them."

"Thank goodness for that," 7 agreed, gazing lovingly at the four of them.

In response, 11 reached over and playfully cuffed 3 over the head, saying, "They're too much fun to _not_ be good with them. The less 20 knows about what we used to be, the better."

After admiring how well their troubled children had recovered from the various things that had ailed them once, the two mothers sat back and sighed.

"0 seems to be the leader, have you noticed?" 14 remarked.

"He's been having these adventures longer," 7 pointed out. "And he has his father's _impressive_ imagination to help him out."

"He's a little leader at heart, just like 9."

"He takes much more after his father than he does after me."

"I should like to see 20 try to make up one of their adventures. You know, I'm not even sure if she makes up her own characters; 0 just seems to take charge and think of everything, never lets her have a turn."

7 rolled her eyes. "And that most certainly is _not_ like his father."

14 nodded her head thoughtfully. "Perhaps I shall talk to her about it. Or perhaps she's perfectly fine going along with his scheming. I suppose we shall find out."


End file.
